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This morning the crown informed an NL Provincial Court Judge that it did not wish to submit evidence in my case, bringing an end to an almost four-year-long legal saga that arose from my coverage of the 2016 Indigenous-led occupation of #MuskratFalls in Labrador. 1/x
The outstanding charge was criminal mischief > $5,000. The charges brought against me represented a significant threat to #pressfreedom in Canada and were cited by @RSF_inter as a reason for Canada's drop out of the top 20 countries in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index 2/x
The conclusion of this litigation vindicates my decision to follow land protectors and their supporters onto contested lands and report an event of national and historical significance. An event that was and is clearly in the public's interest to be informed about. 3/x
A landmark court decision in March 2019 not only affirmed that my status as a journalist ought to have been considered when a provincial Supreme Court judge granted Nalcor Energy an injunction with my name on it in October 2016. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/03/29/landmark-newfoundland-ruling-defends-press-freedom-and-coverage-of-indigenous-issues.html 4/x
It also explicitly cited the critical role media play in reconciliation and specifically the need to have journalists present at Indigenous protests. This, thanks to @APTN's intervention and an affidavit by @karyn_pugliese that ought to be mandatory reading in J-schools. 5/x
That the crown's decision comes in the midst of intersecting historical moments is not lost on me. Many journalists and media organizations are coming to terms with the fact that their historical coverage of Indigenous Peoples has harmfully reinforced the colonial status quo 6/x
Journalists must have access to spaces where Indigenous people defend their lands, waters & ways of life. For editors, police, corporations or governments to censor coverage of Indigenous protest and resistance to colonialism is neither objective, nor in the public interest. 7/x
Concurrently, an international movement has amplified the voices of Black and Indigenous people of colour, including journalists, who have long called for racial equality. In addition to hiring more racialized journalists in our newsrooms, it is also our duty... 8/x
...as journalists to listen, learn and consistently improve the ways we think about and report on racialized communities and Indigenous rights. 9/x
This legal victory and vindication is important, but the larger battle for press freedom is far from over. Police continue to restrict journalists' movement and access at Indigenous land protests, including in unceded Wet'suwet'en territory. 10/x https://thenarwhal.ca/canadian-association-of-journalists-condemns-rcmp-crackdown-on-reporters-in-wetsuweten-territory/
Now, more than ever, we must strengthen our resolve to ensure that, in Canada, JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME. 11/x
A heartfelt thank you to my lawyers @GeoffBudden & @allison_conway & the rest of the @BuddenLaw team for representing me from the moment my name appeared on that injunction. And to my life partner @Smenbee for her love and support through challenging times. 12/x
To @APTNNews for making me part of its family and supporting me in ways no other news outlet in Canada would have. And to @IndependentNL for giving me the opportunity to cover an important part of the Muskrat Falls story that most media were not. 13/x
To those back home in Newfoundland who donated to the Indy's legal defense fund. And to @CAJ, @CJFE, @RSF_en, @CDN_WPF, @PENCanada, @FahmyFoundation, and all of the other people & orgs who publicly supported me by speaking out against the charges: THANK YOU. 14/x
